1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a swash plate-type compressor for use in an automobile air conditioning system.
2. Description of Related Art
As disclosed in Published Patent Application No. US2003-000376, a swash plate-type compressor for use in an automobile air conditioning system includes a rotatable swash plate and a piston connected to the swash plate via shoes, such that the piston reciprocates in company with each rotation of the swash plate. The swash plate secures efficient lubrication to prevent seizure of swash plate surfaces sliding against the shoes when the compressor is working under a heavy load. Therefore, the swash plate includes layers of a sintered metal on the swash plate surfaces which slide against the shoes and layers of a resin on the layers of the sintered metal.
Accordingly, the layers of the resin are joined securely with the layers of the sintered metal, which sintered metal layers have fine pits and lands on surfaces of themselves. Consequently, a superior sliding-contact against the shoes may be achieved and seizure of the swash plate surfaces sliding against the shoes may be prevented from occurring at an early stage of compressor operation.
Nevertheless, the layers of the resin do not have a high degree of abrasion resistance when compared with the layers of the sintered metal. Thus, the layers of the resin may be worn away by abrasion at an early stage of compressor operation. Therefore, clearances for forming films of oil in between the swash plate and shoes may become much too large. Such clearances may cause tracking between the swash plate and shoes, and in a worst case, they may cause the swash plate surfaces sliding against shoes to seize.